Skip to main content
Another German politician attacked ahead of EU elections
Franziska Giffey Berlin's top economic official speaks to media after an event about solar energy in Berlin, Germany, May 8, 2024

A PROMINENT Berlin politician was violently assaulted and suffered injuries to her head and neck, police said today, in the latest attack on elected officials that raises concern over rising political violence in Germany.

Franziska Giffey, the city’s top economic official, a former mayor and an ex-federal minister, was attacked at an event in a Berlin library on Tuesday by a man who approached her from behind and hit her with a bag containing a hard device, police said.

Ms Giffey was taken to a hospital and treated for head and neck pain, police said. A 74-year-old man was detained by the police.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Berlin Cathedral is covered by snow in Berlin, Germany, January 9, 2026
Germany / 15 January 2026
15 January 2026

NICK WRIGHT returns to Berlin and finds a city in darkness and political turmoil

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks to the media during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, Turkey, October 17, 2025
International Relations / 30 October 2025
30 October 2025

The cancelled China trip of the German Foreign Minister marks a break with Helmut Schmidt’s China policy and drives Germany further into Washington’s confrontation course, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
 

VOX POPULI, VOX DEI: Demonstration against Israel’s war on Palestine in Frankfurt’s Willy-Brandt-Platz last year. The banner reads: ‘Stop the criminalisation of Palestinian resistance and solidarity’ / Pic: conceptphoto.info/CC
Features / 24 October 2025
24 October 2025

After NGOs and the EU, UN condemns Germany’s crackdown on Palestine Solidarity, writes LEON WYSTRYCHOWSKI